


oh, how long i have loved you

by wartransmission



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Drabble, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-11
Updated: 2017-03-11
Packaged: 2018-10-02 11:15:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10216751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wartransmission/pseuds/wartransmission
Summary: Who is more fragile, really? The one whose heart is open to vulnerability, or the one whose heart has been closed for so long that any attempts at prying it open have only lead to an outpouring of tears?[In which there's a misunderstanding, and communication proves to be key (as it has always been) to a healthy and happy relationship.]





	

Yuuri has been called “the figure skater with the world’s biggest glass heart” for as long as he remembers himself being in the competitive world of skating. The nickname stuck far too easily, clung onto his name like cyanoacrylate to skin, and led him into believing that he was weak, never good enough, _vulnerable_.

And he was, he is. He may not be weak in the same way that he thought he was before Viktor came into his life, but he knows that he’s vulnerable. His heart is still made of glass, for all that it is flesh and blood in his chest, and it continues to beat its staccato rhythm whenever he cries and struggles to breathe through hiccupping inhales.

He is vulnerable, and he accepts that.

But, perhaps, he is not as fragile as he thought he was. Looking at Viktor now, with dismay in his eyes and tremors running through his graceful hands, Yuuri has to wonder:

Who is more fragile, really? The one whose heart is open to vulnerability, or the one whose heart has been closed for so long that any attempts at prying it open have only lead to an outpouring of tears?

“I’m sorry,” he says, struggling to meet Viktor’s gaze as tears start to brim in those beautiful, ocean-blue eyes. “Viktor, I thought- I didn’t think you were serious.”

“You always think that,” Viktor retorts, voice surprisingly steady despite the tears already running down his cheeks. _Unfair_ , Yuuri thinks, that he can still be so beautiful even when he cries. _Unfair, unfair, unfair, that he can still look composed even in his moments of weakness._

“You always misconstrue my intentions, over and over,” Viktor says, lips trembling for the slightest of moments as he glares at Yuuri through wet, curling lashes. “Am I so untrustworthy that you wouldn’t believe my promise of marriage after you won gold?”

“You always make outlandish promises that you forget to keep,” Yuuri argues, remembering Yurio, remembering Viktor in his family’s onsen saying “ _I’ll make you win the Grand Prix Final!_ ”, remembering his promise to stay on as Yuuri’s coach despite going back into competitive skating himself. “And you talked about it so casually that I didn’t know what to believe!”

“What else is there to believe other than my love for you?” Viktor asks, and Yuuri feels his face heat at his unabashed honesty. To be so sure of a feeling, something intangible and fleeting in ephemeral words- Yuuri doesn’t understand how Viktor does it. He doesn’t understand how Viktor feels himself free enough, confident enough, _sure_ enough to say such things to Yuuri’s face without feeling the doubt and nervousness constantly niggling at the back of his mind. Viktor even goes so far as to add, already wiping (gently) at the tears in his eyes, “What else is there to believe other than my promise to stay by your side for as long you want me, Yuuri? What more must I say?”

“I’m sorry,” he repeats, and Viktor ( _somehow_ ) glares a little harder.

“That’s not what I want to hear,” Viktor grumbles, sounding a little less angry as he does sound petulant.

Yuuri breathes, feeling something in his chest loosen at the wrinkle on the bridge of Viktor’s nose and the pout playing on his lips. “What, then?” he asks. “What do you want me to say?”

Viktor says, sure and firm in the tone of his voice, “Take it back.”

Yuuri wrinkles his own nose in confusion at the determined gleam in Viktor’s eyes. “Take what back?”

“You, saying that you thought our engagement was a joke. Tell me that you still want to marry me, _lyubov moya_ ,” Viktor says, and to anyone else who doesn’t know him, to anyone else who still genuinely believes that Viktor is a playboy merely because of his media persona, he would look calm and certain and a perfect picture of poise.

But Yuuri can see the tremble in his lips, the minute twitch of his clenched fists, and the way he swallows and looks up at Yuuri like he has all that Viktor has ever wanted from the universe. Yuuri sees all of this, and he knows:

Viktor is shaky, unsure, and all because Yuuri has made him to be.

“Of course I want to marry you,” he says, failing to hide a smile when Viktor’s shoulders visibly slump in relief at his confirmation. “Viktor, I’ve loved you for probably longer than I can count. Watching you made me fall in love with skating and, I think,” he pauses to swallow through his dry throat, hand reaching out to cover Viktor’s own as it rests on his lap, “it was what got me this far. You’ve always been an inspiration to me, and so much more.”

“You inspire me too, _solnishko_ , more than you know,” Viktor says, smile returning bright and warm on his face as he turns his hand to raise Yuuri’s own, all just to press a kiss to his ring-adorned finger. “And it would give me the greatest joy if you were to marry me.”

Yuuri laughs, because the formality present in Viktor’s words is so unusual that he can’t help himself. “I already said that I wanted to marry you, didn’t I?” he teases, before bursting into laughter when Viktor jumps up to tickle him down into the couch. “V-Viktor, no!” he squeaks, struggling but not quite under Viktor’s weight as he wiggles fingers into the soft flesh of Yuuri’s sides.

“ _Dorogoi_ ,” Viktor says once he’s stopped, propping himself up by the elbows while lying over Yuuri as though he were a human blanket (and what an effective one he was, being able to soothe away Russia’s cold). His smile is so sweet, so affectionate, that Yuuri can’t help from smiling fondly back despite the heaving breath of his lungs. “Yuuri, I don’t think any man or human being could ever feel as happy as I do now, being able to have you like this.”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Yuuri says, smile curling at the corners of his lips as he cocks an eyebrow up at Viktor. Viktor almost looks concerned, probably confused as to what Yuuri means, until he says, “You still have me to compete with, after all.”

Viktor’s smile softens at that, ocean-blue eyes going warm as he leans in to press their foreheads together. With eyes falling shut, he says,

“That I do, my Yuuri. That I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a finished request for the prompt: "people are fragile things, you should know by now. be careful what you put them through."
> 
> Hope you like it! Feedback would be much appreciated ❤️


End file.
